Usually waking up at 3:30am would bother me, but yesterday was a different ballgame. Waking up at 3:30am felt like I was a child on Christmas morning. In our household we would wake up early… usually our parents were already awake because my Dad had a tradition of taking a shower before we could go down to see what Santa brought. After the shower, we would wait, not patiently, to go down the stairs, but we always had to wait for my Dad to get his video camera ready at the bottom. He needed to capture our reactions. Yesterday, I woke up early, and time was just like my Dad… keeping me from getting where I wanted to be. I got up, took a shower, made my bed, closed my bags and waited… not patiently… for my ride to take me to the airport.

I felt like Kate Hudson or Julia Roberts walking on to a movie set. It was as if I had prepared for years for my role, studying other people, rehearsing my lines, and diligently researching my role. Everything had come down to this moment, the moment when all of my hard work would be put to the test… I’d either be paid the larger reward or fired like Lindsey Lohan on a bad day.

The airport was fun… Atlanta airport is what it is and Miami is like one big circle with only one restaurant in the whole place that served lunch. For a group who woke up at 3:30am, 9am = lunch time! We had a 3 hour layover in Miami which turned into a 4 hour layover after we sat on the tarmac for an hour. The announcement made: “We are waiting on the rest of the crew.” Well… at least we can thank American Airlines for not letting the flight attendants fly our plane! Finally we made it to Port au Prince!! We were greeted by the hot, humid air and a Haitian band playing what sounded like an introduction to Jamaica… needless to say I danced as I walked through :) From the gate we rode a bus to where immigration is located. This building looks more like an airplane hanger. In case anyone is interested… there is no picture taking in Haitian immigration! I got a pretty ugly look, so I smiled, waved my hand, and put my camera away. There were no signs… or at least none in English :(

From there we had our bags loaded on to a bus and headed to New Life Children’s Home, the orphanage we are staying at until we leave for Bohoc. First, the people in Haiti drive worse than me… and that’s saying A LOT, so I’m thankful we got here. There aren’t many words that can express the scenes we saw driving in and I’m not sure pictures will do it justice, but please wait for the pictures to be posted. It’s easier than putting it into words… but what I can do… is talk about these kids. Pablo… my little buddy… will have a place in my heart forever! We were here on the perfect night… we got to sing worship songs (How Great is our God and Mighty to Save) with the kids… IN ENGLISH!!!!… and they knew every word. After we sang we watched The Karate Kid… there’s nothing like sitting outside, looking at the Haitian stars, and watching a Karate Kid screening on the side of an orphanage building.

Pablo… a little shy guy sat on my lap with his backpack and clenched on to my heart forever. Pablo had a hold on that backpack, too. It took until about half way through the movie for him to remove the pack. By the end, he had put both of his tiny hands in mine and wrapped both of my arms around him. At the end of the movie I walked him to his room and watched him place his backpack under his pillow. Part of the pack remained hanging out, so I let him know it wasn’t all the way in. He sweetly told me that he holds on to it while he sleeps. This adorable little boy has… a backpack, rough, food, water, and school in an orphanage. The word humbling doesn’t do this experience justice… Definitely an experience I will never forget. I would say I have played a successful role for the first day.

Just like in the movies there is a writer, producer, director, actors, etc. Obviously our role here is actor… but God has been our writer, director, and producer… that is more than evident in everything we have done. We are blessed to be here and be a part of this mission and I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us next. Off to breakfast and then hopping on a 5 hour bus ride to Bohoc, so… To be continued…

Steph